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by yellowfirefly
Summary: You wanted the children at Iwatobi orphanage to find a forever home but a new tide has turned until you meet a certain blue-eyed swimmer. [Future! AU Haruka x Reader]
1. Prologue

"I like you."

On the last day of high school, you finally confessed your hard, long feelings for this certain-blue-eyed swimmer. You looked up to him staring at his (oh-so perfect) face but he's response didn't seem right, he was…

Looking away?

'Maybe he really had feelings for you too?' You thought to yourself over and over as you eagerly waited for his response.

He takes a deep breath as he noticed you were breathing differently from anxiety for having the courage to say this to him. He stopped to make eye contact to you and said those words that you never would forget.

 _'I'm sorry.'_


	2. Chapter 1 - Sponsor

_'I'm sorry'_

Those words ringed on your head every time you thought of high school, you knew that it was impossible that he liked you back since you hardly had the courage to go near him. He definitely didn't even remember your name when you asked his best friend, Makoto (who was one of your friends when you were taking up a course in a university; he was your classmate in one subject).

Right now, even after finishing your course, you were still confused about your dreams and plans in life.

Then one day, Makoto sent you an email of this local orphanage In Iwatobi, who was looking for volunteers on caring for the children and with little encouragement from him, you decided to volunteer. Your job there wasn't easy; you were assigned with a partner to take care of 8 babies and the orphanage has given you permission to name the 8 unclaimed babies from the hospital. Your partner only stayed for a month and stopped coming to help which left you alone with 8 babies (and it took you a lot of patience to get over this) but something inside you let you stay and you realized that you stayed with the orphanage for almost 6 years (and the orphanage started paying you for your continued effort).

The 8 children are already almost 6 years old but you were unhappy that not everyone wants to adopt a child and even with all the advertisement around the walls of the orphanage, there seemed to be fewer visitors every year. You wanted to children to be adopted but at the same time, you wanted to spend most of your time with them because they have started calling you 'mama' ever since.

Surely, your life was happy just caring and teaching these children every day.

.

It was just an ordinary Wednesday, it was a day where the children get to borrow the large television and watch live shows from a sports channel. You always wondered why the children enjoyed watching live shows about swimming (but the children also definitely loved the movie 'Frozen' and would watch it over and over again on the DVD player) as you clicked the remote to the sports channel.

"I want to swim like that!" said Megumi, who was jumping and pointing at a freestyle swimmer.

"Megumi, I can't see!" Satoshi complained while tugging your shirt. "Mama, Megumi is not letting me see!"

"Satoshi, Megumi just wants to show me what she likes." You patted the boy's head as he huffed.

"But Mama… I also like to swim like that…" Satoshi sighed and looked at you with determined eyes.

"I know… All of you want to swim like that." You smiled but deep inside you were unhappy that you can't let these children achieve their dream, other than encouraging them.

.

One of the managers in the orphanage called that later that lunch time, where you were eating lunch with the children.

"[Last name], a sponsor is coming by later today to look at the children, make sure that the children would meet him and give a short gratitude for his continued support." The manager said and you nodded in response.

"Who's coming?" Seto asked curious.

"A sponsor, it's his first time meeting all of you, so be nice and say a loud 'THANK YOU!' to him when he arrives!" You smiled and the children replied in unison, 'OKAY!'

.

When the sponsor finally arrived, you blinked your eyes several times to recognize the familiar face in front of you.

"H-Hi..." You slowly held up your hand in front of him as a polite 'shake hands' gesture that were usually seen on western movies but you couldn't really keep much focus because you realize it was your old classmate in front of you and those words whispered in your head again which was;

 _'I'm sorry.'_

"N-Nanase-san." You said softly allowing him to hear it.

"Y-You know my name?" He paused to look at you. He didn't seem to be familiar with you and you thank the great iwatobi-chan that he didn't remember your confession back in high school.

"U-Uh…" You stuttered still feeling very nostalgic but you were interrupted with the loud voices of the children: 'THANK YOU FOR SPONSORING US!' followed with a bow from all of them. When you turn to look at your classmate, he gave a soft smile and bowed back in return.

"Thank you for the warm welcome." he said warmly to the children until Megumi stepped up to look at him closely.

"Y-You…You're the swimming man! The one on the television!" Megumi said as she hugged your classmate by surprise and when Megumi hugged him, you snapped back to reality and you quickly introduced him to the children.

"This is Megumi, Mikuru, Minami and Miyu. The boys at the back are named "Seto, Satoshi, Souichi and Syu."

…

He paused after listening to you and started to turn to Megumi. "So you see me on the Television too…?" He said with a small smile.

 _'W-Wait, so that was really him on the Television? you thought._

"H-Huh? S-So that's you?! N-Nanase H-Haruka?!" You blinked again. You remembered hearing the stories of Makoto telling you that Nanase started to travel around the world since he wanted to become a professional swimmer.

"Yes. That's why my manager told me to sponsor this orphanage to let the children watch the sports channel." He turned to look at you and you looked at him remembering that the children really enjoyed watching him on television.

"I-I'm glad you came by!" You bowed to him and the children started going around Nanase to able to greet and hug their 'idol'.

After a few hours, Nanase had to go back home to his old house in Iwatobi and you and the children bid him farewell.

"Thank you for coming!" You all waved to him until he left.

.

That night, when the children were sound asleep, you gave them a goodnight kiss and headed back to your room (which is just beside the room of the children).

You recalled the events that happened today:

\- He didn't talk much but he talked to the children more.

\- He said that he's a professional swimmer.

\- He has an apartment in Australia.

\- He went on a hiatus so that he can visit his hometown.

\- You realize that you and Nanase are completely different people.

 _'It's been 5 years huh…'_ You rubbed your eyes as you lay in bed and slowly, you fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 2 - Coach

The next day, you went out to buy grocery since the chef at the orphanage run out of food supplies and you decided to help her since she was watching over the children in your place.

'Eggs… and then... ' You were looking thru the list of ingredients that were on your smartphone.

"[Last name]." You paused and turned to look on who was calling you.

"N-Nanase?!" You blinked again as he was holding a loaf of bread on his hand. He looked shocked to see you bump into him again.

"…Grocery, as well?" He asked and you nodded in reply.

"I see." He replied reflexively and slowly walked away to get another piece of ingredient.

.

You blinked again to see him glance at you.

 _'Was he looking at me?' you kept on asking yourself that day._

.

When you got back to the orphanage, you noticed the children aren't inside the building but outside. You went closer and you noticed the children sat by the orphanage's private swimming pool and the kind chef noticed you and went to you with a smile.

"Thank you very much, it's a big help! Dinner later would be great!" The kind female chef smiled as she took the groceries from you, but you were too curious with the children looking at the water.

"Why did you bring them here?" You asked as you turned back to the chef causing her to chuckle a bit.

"They wanted to see the finished pool." The chef replied.

 _That same day, you thought of a good plan for the children…_

 _You needed a coach._

 _._

"Why me?" Nanase asked in frustration since you have asked him over and over again.

"Because…" You paused.

 _"You're the only one I can think about!"_

Before you could even say that, you closed your mouth. That was going to bring you in a very awkward situation with him if you ever said that.

"Ask Makoto." He said which brought you back to reality.

"He's in Tokyo!" You retorted back. "W-Wait… You knew Makoto was my friend?"

He sighed and took out his phone showing a selfie of you and Makoto back in your university days.

"He's my … best friend." He said slowly looking away from you. "He tells me a lot of things."

"I know that…" You paused and suddenly it hit you.

 _'Makoto, you're going down… if you ever said… I used to have feelings for him!'_

"H-He told you about me?!" You shouted in shock causing your old classmate to flinch.

"Yeah." He said while composing himself.

"L-Like what?" You looked down avoiding his gaze.

"That you were my old classmate."

"A-And?"

"You were his classmate in one of his subjects."

You hit your head and thanked Iwatobi-chan that Makoto kept it a secret.

"Thank goodness…" You sighed in relief.

"Why are you thanking me?" He asked confused and slightly annoyed that you were still keeping him company.

"Because you decided to volunteer and be our coach!"

"N-No way…"


	4. Chapter 3 - First Day

The following week, you were glad that Makoto's advice worked (and which it consists of cooked mackerel and bottled water on his doorstep) and you finally got Nanase to dedicate himself to teach the children about swimming even if it's just for a week.

"Mama! We get a new Papa, right?" Minami smiled as you helped them wear their swimsuits properly. You giggled in response to what she was asking about.

"Minami, he won't be your new papa, he will be your new coach since all of you wanted to learn how to swim." You adjusted her swimming cap as Minami and the other children become excited to be able to learn how to swim.

And after an hour, he finally came by to teach them.

"I only teach freestyle." He told you as he helped the children into the swimming pool.

"Okay, do what you can do, coach Nanase!" You gave him a salute and sat down at the bench nearby. After a few minutes have passed, you decided to go to the bathroom to prepare the children's towels.

.

"H-Huh?"

You wondered why there were screams of excitement from outside and you took a peek outside the door only to see the children running around outside the swimming pool playing tag while Haruka on the other hand, was trying to get everyone's attention.

"H-Hey-" He said trying to holding their arms but the children continued to run around.

"W-We haven't finished swimming yet…" He took Megumi's arm while the other hand went to Satoshi. He only had two arms and he couldn't anymore stop the 6 children running around.

You smiled at how awkward the situation was and remembering that it was his first time to teach. You quickly got out of the bathroom and clapped your hands getting the children's attention.

"Alright, playing time is over. Time to listen to Coach Nanase!" You said out loud and the children stopped playing and went to fall-in-line again.

"H-how did you do that? You only said it once." He looked at you surprised and you smirked back. "Learned from experience."

.

"Thank you Nanase." You bowed as he was about to leave the orphanage causing the children to bow as well.

"Thank you for teaching us coach _Papa_ Nanase!" They bowed at him and you and Nanase paused, it is a bit awkward but you shrugged it off and chuckled a bit at the words of the children.

"They really like you." You looked at him sincerely and he paused looking at you.

"Yeah. Welcome." He quickly turned his back and walked away.

You were surprised that he was gentle with teaching children. You never realized that he was grateful that you were there helping him teach the children.


	5. Chapter 4 - Candy

The week after, the children have gotten used to his actions and he starts to build a bond with them. There are times that they run off and play but most of the time they have been spending more time with him in the swimming pool.

"Alright, it's time to eat!" you called out to them as they were drying themselves with a towel after a long day.

"M-Mackerel again?!" Megumi looked at Haruka as he opened his bento and Souichi took a glance and said " _Papa_ Coach Nanase, really loves that! He said it tastes like candy!"

"Does it really taste like candy?" You asked Haruka as you looked at him.

"I said that it tastes good and Souichi asked if it tastes like your homemade candy… So I said 'yes'."

"Hahaha!" You burst out laughing but he looked at you confused.

You still couldn't believe what he said about mackerel 'tasting like candy'.

.

"Thank you for teaching us even though it was just for a week." You bowed to him at the end of the day.

"Thank you _Papa_ coach!" The children bowed after you.

He paused looking at you and then looking at the children.

"No…" He said softly and you blinked.

"I think… I'll stay a bit longer." He replied slowly while looking away and it caused you and the children to smile widely.

Before he knew it, Nanase was cuddled on the ground by you and the children.


	6. Chapter 5 - Papa

It's been a few weeks since Haruka started teaching the children, the children have been trying to swim freestyle and Syu has gotten used it already. Megumi and Satoshi have been really close to Haruka since the first week. They enjoyed sitting beside him during lunch, and talking to him during breaks. The children were so used to him that they decided to ask him…

"C-Can we call you 'Papa'?" Megumi asked hesitantly while Satoshi agreed with a nod at him.

Haruka blinked in confusion on what to say as he stared at you and back to the gazes of the children. He looked confused since the children started to call him 'Papa coach' since he started.

He looked at them and asked. "Why? You already called me 'Papa Coach'?"

"N-No! We just want 'Papa'!" Miyu said slowly.

"Yeah!" Seto replied enthusiastically.

"We want to call you papa!" Souichi agreed.

"Please?" Minami looked at him pleadingly followed with the other children.

You remained speechless on what to say (as he looked at you looking for approval) and you suddenly blushed at that thought because… First of all, they call you, 'Mama' and then they would call Nanase, 'Papa' so that would look very awkward to spend time with him but it just made you look at him pleadingly too and he nodded at your reaction.

"…It's fine." He said without any hesitation as he took a bite of his mackerel.

"H-Huh?" You looked at him as he looked at you again.

"I said that it's fine." He replied and then took another bite.

"Yay! Thank you papa!" The children smiled but you were there looking at your food with a slight blush on your cheeks.

.

"Thank you for teaching us!" You said in unison with the children as Nanase was about the leave.

"Thank you Nanase." You said again and he turned back to look at you.

" 'Haru' is fine…" He while turning his back and went his way.

You paused remembering his words 'Haru is fine…' and it caused you to blush again that day.


	7. Chapter 6 - Smile

A month has passed, the children are already familiar with the freestyle stroke and they have been practicing how to swim properly. Though, you thought the whole 'Papa, mama' thing was awkward but it wasn't anymore since you got used to it.

Haruka has also started to talk with you more and more.

"Syu is talented." Haruka muttered as you gave him a bottle of water.

"I noticed." You smiled back at him.

"He can really feel the water." He said while watching the children eat their lunch.

"Syu is very hardworking, he always watched the swimming Olympics after practice. He always wanted to swim so I told him to never give up and follow your dreams." You replied.

"Hmm…" He said slowly while taking a sip of his water.

"What?" You look at him weirdly coming closer to him as he stopped to look at you.

"You know Haruka, you seemed to be feeling more at _home_ here…" You smiled at him surprised that he's much comfortable spending time with you and the children now.

"Hm…" He closes his eyes. "Maybe… it's just the children as well…"

"The children?" You looked at him confused.

"…Thanks for raising them to be good kids." He smiled at you.

That smile kept you awake for days.


	8. Chapter 7 - Accident

Two months have already passed.

On the start of the third month, it was Satoshi's birthday.

In every birthday, the child is sponsored to have a small birthday party and that's what you and Haruka have prepared that day. You set up balloons. Party hats and most importantly, the chocolate cake that Satoshi always loved.

"Happy birthday, Satoshi!" You and Haruka greeted as you presented the small boy the cake he always wished for (since last year, he had a different flavored cake) while you were giving Satoshi the cake everyone started to sing the 'happy birthday' song.

"Happy Birthday!" Miyu smiled and kissed Satoshi's cheek.

"Happy Birthdaaaay!" Syu said and hugged Satoshi followed by the other children.

"Make a wish!" You said and you brought the cake closer to the birthday boy and Satoshi blew the candles one by one.

"What's your wish?" Seto asked.

"It already came true!" Satoshi laughed. "I wished for a big chocolate cake on my birthday!"

"Then why did you blow the cake if it came true?" Mikuru asked confused.

"I wished for something else…" Satoshi blushed and he stared at you and Haruka.

"I-I want a kiss from Mama and Papa!" He said looking away. "I watched from Disney channel that mamas and papas give kisses on their baby's cheeks… On both sides! I really never had a kiss like that…"

You and Haruka's eyes widened on how sad Satoshi looked but you two decided to take his wish. Grabbing Satoshi by the waist and lifting him up, you carried him as he starts giggling.

"Hehe, Mama and Papa will give me a kiss!" He said as you gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Papa and the other cheek, please!" He pointed to his cheek as Haruka slowly gave him a kiss on the other cheek.

"I want mama and papa to give me a kiss at the same time!" Satoshi held his cheeks at the same time and you and Haruka gave him a kiss at both his cheeks.

"Hehe! Thank you mama and papa!" Satoshi smiled as you put him back down and you turned to look at Haruka blushing from his sudden action.

"Not fair! I want mama and papa to kiss me too!" Mikuru said hugging your leg.

"Me too!" Megumi and Syu said in unison and soon, everyone was jumping up and down just to get a simple kiss from the two of you and you looked at Haruka only to see him carry Miyu on his arms.

"Let's give them a kiss then." He said straightforwardly and you blushed in response.

"O-Ok…" You smiled back still blushing.

Soon, only Megumi had not yet gotten a kiss and Haruka picked her up like what he did to the others.

"Yay! Finally, it's Megumi-chan's turn!" Megumi giggled as she clapped her hands from the excitement and you and Haruka leaned in to give her a kiss.

"Achoo!"

Megumi sneezed suddenly causing her head to lean forward causing you and Haruka to miss.

You pulled back suddenly only to realize that you have kissed Haruka on the lips. He slightly pulled back as both your faces turning red at that point.

"Oh! Mama and Papa kissed!" Megumi giggled as she watched the two of you looking away. "Can Mama and Papa kiss me too, pleeeeasssseeee?" and you and Haruka snapped back to reality to give Megumi the kiss she was asking.

You had a hard time looking at Haruka after that 'small' accident.

.

"Um… Thank you for buying the chocolate cake for Satoshi." You tried to say 'breaking the ice' with him after the birthday party. (The children are all fast asleep after almost a whole day of party.)

"…It's fine." He looked away not looking at your gaze.

"W-Well… See you tomorrow." You bowed at him as he slowly turned to look at you.

"Sure… See you tomorrow … [Name]." He said softly while turning away making sure you have heard his voice.

You blinked again and realized that he started calling you by your first name ever since.


	9. Chapter 8 - Mackerel

On the fourth month, the children have adjusted well and have started to learn the different strokes. Megumi and Miyu are good with Freestyle. Satoshi, Seto, Minami and Mikuru are good with breaststroke. Souichi can do both freestyle and backstroke. While Syu can do both freestyle and breaststroke while being able to learn butterfly as well.

"I thought you only teach freestyle?" You wondered on the words that he said ever since he started teaching the children.

"I taught them how to be 'free'…" Haruka mumbled back and sighed slightly.

"Alright, Alright, I get you." You said as Haruka continued to eat his lunch.

Though you noticed Haruka taking a look at you and back to his mackerel, you stared at him again and he winced.

"Yes?" You asked as he looked at you.

"W-Want to take a bite?" He asked as he held his mackerel closer and trying to feed you using his chopsticks.

"S-Sure…" You grabbed a bite from him and he's eyes relaxed.

"Is it good?" He asked.

"Yep!" You replied and he smiled back at you, he seemed to get much relaxed when he is with you. You thought about this but then he starts talking more about 'the legend of the mackerel' to you (and the children). It may seem weird at first but the children really did enjoy his story.


	10. Chapter 9 - Festival

On the fifth month, Haruka wanted to bring the children to a local fireworks festival somewhere in Iwatobi (which he said that it was just a walking distance from the orphanage) but the manager of the orphanage did not approve that because of the safety of the children.

"Too bad, the children can't go." He sighed as he sat beside you after practice.

"I can't go as well." You sighed and he looked at you confused.

"No one will take care of the children. I would want to go, but without the children, I would feel empty. I wanted them to come as well." You looked at him gloomily and for once, Haruka had this impulse to do something about it.

.

After practice, he pulled you and the children out from the back door to visit the festival. You were shocked by his sudden impulse and it made you afraid on where this was going.

"H-How about the children? I don't think we can keep track of them…" You looked at him intently because you were not used to breaking rules inside the orphanage.

"It's fine. Relax. I brought back-up!" Makoto said while patting your back along with a red-haired girl at his back and Makoto quickly introduced you to Kou, who used to be the team manager back in high school.

"M-Makoto?!" You looked at him surprise. "I-I thought you were in Tokyo?!"

"Just came by to visit my parents and… because someone asked me to help." Makoto looked at Haruka giving him a warm smile while in response to that, Haruka looked away embarrassed and turned back to the children.

"Children, meet Uncle Makoto and Auntie Kou." Haruka said to the children.

"Hi Uncle Makoto! Hi Auntie Kou!" The children smiled and waved their hands.

"These two will be our guide for today, so please stay near them." Haruka said making sure the children can hear him.

"Okay!" the children gave a big salute.

.

While, Makoto and Haruka were taking the children around the festival, Kou forced you to change into your yukata.

"A-Are you sure the children will be okay?" You asked Kou for the seventh time and Kou sighed in response.

"Yes, Haru and Makoto are taking care of them... You do know that Makoto has a lot of experiences on handling children!" Kou replied assuring you that everything will be fine.

"A-Alright…" You looked at her with a smile.

"All done!" Kou smiled as she tied your hair in a bun while adding [your favorite flower] clips on it.

"You look really cute [Name]! Wait, till Haruka-senpai sees this!" Kou took you by the hand and lead you out of the dressing room excitedly.

"W-Wait… K-Kou-san…!"

.

After meeting up with Makoto and Haruka, Kou pulled you in front of Haruka.

"What do you think?" Kou asked him and you blushed in response.

"It's fine." Haruka said and he looked away but Makoto went near you and whispered to your ear.

"He likes it." Makoto whispered to your ear causing you to look away from embarrassment.

.

Kou split the children into groups. Kou would take care of Seto and Megumi while Makoto took care of Satoshi and Syu. Leaving Mikuru, Minami, Souichi and Miyu, with you and Haruka. The three groups separated to different places and making sure the children enjoyed the festival since they rarely got the chance to go out from the orphanage.

.

Later, all of you meet up again near the beach to watch the fireworks.

"Everyone here?" You quickly took the attendance and noticed that all eight of them are present.

"See? I told you not to worry." Makoto said patting your back.

"Besides, you have Haru with you." Makoto whispered to your ear and it caused you to glare at him.

"Y-You set us up, didn't you?" You looked at Makoto annoyed.

"H-Huh?" Makoto blinked trying to show that he didn't know anything and he started to scratch his chin.

"I-I don't know anything about it haha." He chuckled a bit looking away.

 _'I knew it!' You thought to yourself ready to give your friend a scolding._

"[Name]. It's starting," You suddenly heard Haruka calling out your name as he brought you near the children.

"Mama! Papa! It's starting!" You heard the voice of Syu then following the other children calling out you and Haruka.

.

You looked at the fireworks totally thrilled by its colors and how pretty it looks in the night sky.

"I-It's pretty right?" You turned to look at Haruka who is currently staring at the fireworks.

He stopped upon hearing your voice. And he slowly turned to look at you.

You smiling, wearing a yukata under the fireworks looked really beautiful and his eyes softened when you smiled at him warmly. It was a wonderful sight, he was confused on whether the fireworks were beautiful or if that was just you looking at him with those soft eyes.

That night, you safely brought the children back to the orphanage.


End file.
